By SAFIYA MOHAMED
What happens when poets push language to its breaking point? Originally published in Italian in 1981, Renato Barilli’s Voyage to the End of the Word, now available in English, translated by Teresa Fiore and Harry Polkinhorn, offers a fascinating exploration of Italian experimental poetry during the explosive cultural moment of the 1960s and 70s.
Barilli, an influential figure in aesthetics and literary criticism, places this experimental wave within a rich theoretical framework. Drawing on Saussure’s concept of the linguistic sign and Freud’s idea of pre-oedipal bliss, he maps out how poets stretched and reshaped language during a time of intense artistic innovation. The book doesn’t just offer critical analysis, it also includes a dynamic mini-anthology of poems that embody the era’s spirit. Readers encounter puns, playful visuals, neologisms, and daring formal experiments that expand the very idea of what poetry can be. Each piece captures the raw energy of a moment when words were stretched, bent, and reshaped with radical intent.
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| Voyage to the End of the Word |
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| Voyage to the End of the Word |
As Professor of the Phenomenology of Styles at the University of Bologna, Barilli has long been recognized for his deep and interdisciplinary approach to both art and literature. Voyage to the End of the Word stands as a vital bridge between theory and poetic practice, inviting readers into the dynamic world of language experimentation at a moment when art and politics were tightly intertwined.
This new translation brings Barilli’s insights to an English-speaking audience at a time when questions about the limits and possibilities of language feel as urgent as ever. For scholars, students, writers, and anyone curious about the experimental spirit of twentieth-century Italian literature, Voyage to the End of the Word offers both a masterclass in theory and a celebration of poetic play. This first-ever English edition opens up an important chapter of Italian literary history for a global audience and offers fresh inspiration for today’s writers and thinkers who continue to ask: how far can language go?
USA $16.95
ISBN 10: 1879691493
ISBN 13: 978-1879691490
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